EFFECTS OF PARTICLE SIZES ON THE MECHANICAL AND WEAR PROPERTIES OF OIL PALM SHELL REINFORCED EPOXY RESIN COMPOSITES

Abstract

The use of agro-wastes as reinforcements in polymer bio-composite is becoming popular because of the low processing cost and their availability. However, there is little informationon the wear resistance performance of the existing polymer reinforced bio-composites. Thiswork aims at investigating the effects of oil palm shell (OPS) particle sizes and compositions (wt.%) in epoxy resin polymer on the microstructure, hardness and wear properties of the OPS epoxy resin bio-composite. The bio-composite was developed via casting technique with varying OPS particle sizes and compositions in epoxy resin polymer. Optical microscopy was used to examine the microstructure of the developed bio-composites. Hardness and wear resistance tests were performed on the bio-composite samples using Vickers hardness tester and abrasion wear resistance testing machines, respectively. The results revealed that the developed bio-composites were without any visible surface defects such as cracks and pores. The OPS particles are well bonded with the epoxy resin matrix. Also, OPS particles are randomly distributed within the matrix with a higher number of OPS particles found in the composite samples with 30 wt.% of the reinforcement particle. The hardness of the composites which range between 57 and 75 HV increased as the OPS content and size range increased. The wear resistance of the cast OPS/epoxy resin composite increased by decreasing the size of the OPS particle but increased with increasing the weight composition (i.e. volume fraction) of the OPS. The statistical analysis (ANOVA) revealed that the OPS particle size and composition has significant effect on the hardness of the composite. Only theeffect of the OPS composition is significant to the wear resistance of the composite. The developed OPS-epoxy resin bio composites are suitable for applications where moderate impact strength, high corrosion and wear resistance properties are required, forexample, car dashboards.